Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Miami Herald, January 25, 1983, "Omega 7 Threatens Death to 'Traitors'" by Ana Veciana-Suarez

A letter purportedly from Omega 7 Monday threatened "traitors" it said provided the information for a Miami Herald article that identified the leader of the anti-Castro terrorist group.

The note, written in Spanish, demanded that the newspaper disclose its sources, and issued a warning.

"We do not doubt that traitors who have crossed our paths have given information about us in private and succumbed to thepressure of the authorities, selling themselves to the highest bidder. In both cases the punishment for betrayal is paid with death," it said.

The two-page, typewritten note, received in the mail at Spanish-language radio stations WQBA and WRHC, was signed, "Omar, chief of commandos, Omega 7."

The note criticized a Jan. 16 story in The Herald, which cited FBI sources and identified Miamian Eduardo Arocena as "Omar." The communique, however, declined to "go into detail about the truth of said article."

Omega 7 has claimed responsibility for more than 30 bombings and two assassinations in the past eight years. The last three bombings occurred two weeks ago in Miami. Arocena, the man the FBI has identified as leader of the group, has been a fugitive since he was named in an arrest warrant last October.

"For our part, we feel offended that The Herald would publish the information about Omega 7, for we consider it a cave of Communists who serve Russia, just like The New York Times and The Washington Post, since they concentrate their efforts on attacking and destroying democracy so this great country will fall into the arms of international communism..." the communique said.

"We would like to tell you that on many occasions we have caressed the idea of attacking them and destroying their nests and doing a favor for this country," it added.

The communique also said the terrorist group would rather have articles about its activities published by Miami's Spanish- language weeklies, which it called "true champions of the Cuban cause."

Broadcasters from both WQBA and WRHC read the communique on news programs, but said they would not give copies of it to law enforcement officials unless requested. Both the FBI and Miami police said Monday they were unaware that the radio stations had received a note from Omega 7.